Arranging the music of one song...

It's taken awhile, but we've finally got a good Raiden ReMix - shmup fans rejoice. Considered sort of a benchmark/landmark/archetype for the vertical-scrolling shooter, Raiden had a big influence on the genre and inspired a lot of clones. It's still some good, classic stuff after all these years - sure, those fancypants Psikyo games might have hot anime gals and ten-thousand bullets on screen at the same time, but it's all an extension of the basic formula that Raiden went a long ways in establishing. Rayza's just da guy to handle this project, too - he starts off with what sounds like an orchestral mix, with military snare patterns, timpani, cymbal roll, bells, and strings, but half a minute in we get a good techno beat going with a stable bass pattern and a triplet synth bit on top of that. Chord changes at 1'12" and not too late afterwards some string pads enter, the liquid analog main lead synth picks up, and a clear kick / open hi-hat drum line takes over. Rayza doesn't sit there too long, though, and breaks for a bit, gradually layering in some more interesting drum work with an elaborate stereo kit that's good stuff. Ending outros by reincorporating some of the same orchestral bits from the beginning, and works well. I would have liked to hear the orchestral element play a more consistent role, rather than being (somewhat) relegated to a round-robin start/finish occupation. However, the quality drum work essentially adds the same thing - variety - to an already solid foundation. Rayza knows how to mix, so there's nothing sticking out in that department, and in general the piece has a smooth, analogue quality that's easy on the ears but still got some juice. Recommended.

Discussion

Rayza has a wonderful knack for putting the melody first,
something I'm greatly appreciative of. All too often in remixes
(generally not those on OCR), too much focus is put on the trance
whilst the melodic aspects of the mix are relegated to backing
tracks. Not so with this mix, with the lead synth doing it's
thing right up front in everyone's face.

This is a nice, tight package that doesn't pop as much as perhaps
a more modern techno rendition would, but it still sounds
extremely well exectued regardless. Some samples wear their age
and arrangement is on the narrow side but the pros far outweigh
the cons. It's still a standout mix of a great source that could
have very easily gone completely overlooked. Nice one.

Another old-school workhorse on my playlist, this is pretty well
crafted with some really nice synth choices. The snare at the
beginning I've always thought was kindof lame and way dry for the
effect you are going for, though it works for the rest of the
track, and the rest is solid and pretty creative trance, with
some cool variations, especially near the end. Builds and
breakdowns are well executed, and the song has a nice flow, as
well as a driving pulse. I agree with Larry that the source music
has some good stuff and then some stuff most likely written by
the intern, but this track is definitely one of the stronger
ones, and Rayza kicked it up even more. Nice work.

The Raiden series soundtracks felt a bit spotty to me; there are
some decent cuts, but I never really found myself liking much on
there.

The execution here was definitely skillfull and stylish. A little
thin in spots, but I loved the overall meaty and energetic
atmosphere here.

Great arrangement ideas, this really compares well with the
original. Solid development throughout the course of the mix,
even showcasing some new writing ideas at the end just to show he
wasn't resting on his laurels. Nice work, Hayden.

This is a great remix of the original tune, which was probably
the most memorable from Raiden and its Raiden Trad console
counterparts. I love the orchestral intro and the switch to the
synth instruments.

This takes a page out of the Book of Juno Reactor. It seems to
have a strong psytrance feel to it, but it's also kind of just
flat-out techno. I dunno... anyway, I like this. The bassline
really got me anticipating what was coming up, and with good
reason. All of the cool gliding synth lines are lots of fun, and
the main lead is just so massive and appropriate
for this song. It's mixed quite well, with nothing too
overpowering, and nothing being drowned out. And holy crap, the
big melody step-up at 4:03 caught me totally off guard, and all I
could do was raise my eyebrows and rewind to hear it again.

You know what's an awesome experience? Booting up MAME, turning
on this mix, setting it to loop, and starting up Raiden. Then,
hit "~" and turn the volume down to the point where you can only
hear the effects, and not the music. Insert Coin, and enjoy. What
a fucking great experience.

I always swore that if I ever became a remixer, this would be the
first track I'd cover. Now, I can put that off a little longer.

I said it before, I really really like this mix.
Raiden's been in need of mixage for some time, and I highly
enjoyed this one. I especially like the sound of your lead synth,
which also kept reminding me of Golden Axe for some reason. As
I'm now listening with headphones and taking in more of what's
going on in the backround of the music, it only gets better.
Awesome mix!

Finally! A good Raiden mix! I was considering making a mix of
this particular tune myself, but never got around to it. Rayza
does some great things with this mix; the orchestral in the
beginning is fairly true to the tune, but the techno expands on
it with new melodies and things, all of which are good (a few of
them fairly standard techno, though.) Lots of cool synths, good
drums, and a nice balance between staying true to the original
and improvising. I especially love the drum solo at 2:24. The
only gripe I have with it is that it's fairly predictable as far
as techno goes. As djp would say, reccomended.

This is a very good mix. I'm not familiar with the original
tunes, but this stands by itself very well. Great drum
programming that's kept interesting with effects and changes like
at 2:20 is consistent throughout. This is good trance/techno
stuff that keeps itself from being terribly predictable. The
synth used for the lead melody is great and fits right in. Great
stuff from Ryza.

Okay - I really, really liked the first part of this mix. I was
hoping a style like this would have built up deeper in the same
style. Instead, it goes into a techno arrangement starting at
about 0:30. Though, it's actually worth it considering how well
done it is. Rayza never fails impress me and compose great
ReMixes. This one is definitely no exception. Not much else to
say other than that I enjoyed listening to it, and it's well done
(I couldn't write anything in this style better myself). All I
can say is: It's about time we get a Raiden ReMix. The wait was
worth it

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